Bill McKibben Endorses Sellus Wilder

Noted environmentalist Bill McKibben is endorsing Sellus Wilder for US Senator in Kentucky. Wilder is running on a progressive platform that includes envisioning an end to reliance on coal jobs.

RL Miller, cofounder of Climate Hawks Vote, states: "Bill's endorsement stands in sharp contrast to the pandering by Donald Trump and Rand Paul to fossil fuel interests. Yesterday, Trump lied to the people of West Virginia by telling them that the coal jobs are coming back. Kentucky deserves the truth."

Five Democrats are running for the right to face against Rand Paul this fall. Wilder has recently been endorsed by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, a statewide grassroots advocacy group issuing its first-ever statewide endorsement, and is rapidly emerging as one of the two front-runners. The Sanders-Clinton primary is expected to boost turnout in the May 17 primary.

McKibben's endorsement:

The test for our leaders has to be: will they stand up for a working future, even if it means bucking the powerful and rich? Here's a man who's passed that test: Sellus Wilder.

As an activist, filmmaker, and local elected official he’s stood up for a clean energy future, leaving behind the dirty fossil fuels that dominated our past. He realizes better jobs and cleaner energy go hand in hand, and Kentuckians and all Americans will benefit from these opportunities. I am proud to support him for the Democratic nomination to be the next U.S. Senator from Kentucky.

A couple of years ago, Sellus got active in the fight to stop the Bluegrass Pipeline, a pipeline that would have carried natural gas liquids—a particularly nasty slurry byproduct of hydraulic fracturing—snaking through 200 miles and 13 counties in Kentucky. He took it upon himself to defend what he believed was at stake: land, liberty, and the right to a healthy life. Along the way, he assembled a diverse coalition of Kentuckians, ranging from Tea Partiers and constitutional conservatives to nuns, farmers, ranchers, and environmental groups. And it worked—the pipeline was cancelled.

So he made a film, The End of the Line, which won the Spirit of Activism Award at the 2016 Colorado Environmental Film Festival. And not too long ago, the New Ipswich Pipeline Resistance, fighting the Kinder Morgan Northeast Energy Direct pipeline in New England, contacted Sellus. He arranged for an advance showing of his film, which the New Ipswich folk used. And then, April 21—“Your film and their struggle proved to be a blueprint for our ultimate success as Kinder Morgan announced yesterday that they are suspending NED indefinitely.”

That’s how Sellus Wilder stands up - for the people of Kentucky and against the special interests cynically pushing a chimerical “war on coal.” The people of Kentucky are ready for a brighter future. And that’s why I endorse Sellus Wilder in the Democratic primary on May 17.

About Climate Hawks Vote: We're a grassroots-funded organization building political power for the climate movement. Hatched in 2014, we endorsed 17 candidates and won 11 of those races. We hold politicians accountable through a sophisticated scorecard tracking not only votes, but also leadership and public engagement on climate. Our board of directors includes Bill McKibben and Jigar Shah.